In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that unprotected heterosexual intercourse puts Latino populations,particularly women, at elevated risk of infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Unlike other ethnic/gender groups, Latino women have not increased their use of condoms, and it is clear that existing models of sexual risk and protective factors are inadequate to explain or predict their behavior. immigration theory suggests that acculturation (the degree to which immigrants adapt to a host culture) is an important factor in shaping attitudes and behaviors. However, research has revealed that traditional measures of acculturation do not accurately predict the sexual risk and protective behaviors of Latino women. The overarching goal of this project is to identify and develop ways of assessing domains of acculturation relevant to the sexual behavior of Latino women living in the U.S. Specific aims of the project are to: (I) Identify dimensions of acculturation related to sexual risk and protective behaviors of Latino women; (2) Create structured measures of these dimensions of acculturation; (3) Pilot-test the measures and examine their psychometric and predictive properties in a sample of Latino- women as compared to men. In order to accomplish the first aim, an existing set of in-depth interviews conducted with 24 Latino women will be analyzed to examine family socialization of gender-role attitudes and behaviors, early romantic and sexual experiences, and lifetime risk and protective behaviors among women with different childhood and current acculturation patterns. This information will be used to create structured measures to assess dimensions of sexual acculturation. Finally, the newly created measures will be pilot-testing in a sample of 120 Latino women and men, and their psychometric and predictive properties will be examined. If this study is successful, it will result in the identification and operationalization of aspects of acculturation that are predictive of differential risk levels among Latino women, which will facilitate future HIV/AIDS risk-reduction efforts.